TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Susan Sarandon will appear at this week’s Traverse City Film Festival to promote the soon-to-be-released movie “Robot & Frank” and talk shop with fellow Oscar winner Michael Moore.
Sarandon will add star power to the summer festival, which runs from Tuesday through Sunday and attracts large crowds to the Lake Michigan resort town.
“I’m a great admirer of her work, and I’m so pleased to introduce her to the hospitality, vitality and beauty of northern Michigan,” said Moore, who founded the festival in 2005 and lives near Traverse City.
The Midwestern premiere of “Robot & Frank,” in which Sarandon plays a librarian with a robot assistant, will be Wednesday at the downtown State Theatre. A panel discussion featuring Sarandon and Moore will be held that morning, followed by a showing of “Thelma and Louise.”
Sarandon also will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Also making an appearance will be director Jay Roach, who will introduce a preview of his new comedy “The Campaign,” starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifinakis. Roach previously directed the “Austin Powers” films, “Meet the Parents” and its sequel, “Meet the Fockers.”
Kristen Bell, a Huntington Woods native, is scheduled to host a preview of her new film, “Hit & Run.” Among documentary filmmakers on hand will be Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, co-directors of “Detropia,” which focuses on Detroit’s economic struggles.
“Borat” director Larry Charles, a member of the festival board, will screen his latest film, “The Dictator.” Another board member is Academy Award winner Terry George (“The Shore,” ”Hotel Rawanda”), who will present his new comedy, “Whole Lotta Sole.”
Films will be shown at six indoor theaters, in addition to free nightly showings on a giant inflatable screen on the shore of Grand Traverse Bay.
Moore has said he started the festival to help rescue an art form suffering from poor quality at chain theaters. Many of the pictures chosen for showings are foreign films, American independents, documentaries and others that organizers say have been overlooked but merit attention.
